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In-state rivals face off in The Big House

It’s very simple for the Michigan State.

Either the Spartans can put last week’s 45-7 disaster loss to Ohio State behind them and still make this a great season. Or they will follow the pattern like previous teams before them with a clunker of a finish.

But the opportunity to rebound is there since the team travels down the interstate to play Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“[Michigan] didn’t give us any time to really reflect on Ohio State for too long,’’ junior linebacker Adam Decker said. “As soon as we realized we have Michigan, everyone’s attention turned to that and everyone’s motivated again, so we will be fine.’’

The only good news coming out of the Ohio State game is that quarterback Brian Hoyer, who suffered head and hand injuries, was cleared by team doctors earlier this week.

Although the Big Ten championship is not a great possibility and the team fell out of the rankings, the Spartans can still play for a nine-win or 10-win season and play for a New Year’s Bowl Game. That’s important.

But the Spartans know they cannot take their intra-state rival for granted. It’s likely the Wolverines are going to miss a bowl for the first time in 33 years. First-year coach Rich Rodriguez does not have the personnel to run his spread-type of offense.

The Wolverines have been plagued by turnovers and a limited passing game. But the fact that the Spartans haven’t won in the series since 2001 also has this team’s attention.

“It is something that is definitely important to us, because it would be terrible to go through all your years here and not be able to beat those guys,’’ Hoyer said.

Really, not much is going to change from the Spartan offense. It will always start with senior running back Javon Ringer. Ohio State’s defense held him to a season-low 67 yards.

But the Spartans have to re-establish him. One thing that Ringer is doing is showing his durability. He already has 263 attempts this season. He had only 245 last season.

Michigan has been credible against the run this year as it is 40 th in the nation by allowing only 120 yards per game.

Should Hoyer be at 100 percent, he’s going to have to play better. Before his injury last week, he already wasn’t playing very well.

Conversely, the Spartan rushing defense has a chance to get well against the Wolverine running attack that has sputtered. Even with the run-oriented spread, Michigan is not moving the ball like it has with 140.8 yards per game. Whoever runs the ball better usually wins this game. The better running team has won 35 of the last 38 meetings.

The quickest way for the Spartans to put last week behind them is to start quickly. It would be a great way to do it since they haven’t won in Ann Arbor since 1990 when they knocked off the No. 1 Wolverines, 28-27.

By the first quarter, Spartan fans will know how the either/or thing is faring.

Prediction: Michigan State 23, Michigan 21

Notable

• Since 1953, the teams have played for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The four-foot wooden statue denotes Michigan State’s arrival to the Big Ten conference in 1953. Michigan leads that portion of the series, 34-19-2.
• The Spartans have really not dominated one quarter over the opposition. However, they are outscoring their opponents in all four quarters this year.
• Michigan St. continues to be efficient inside the opponent’s red zone. The Spartans have scored 88 percent of the time (30-for-34).

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